I think most of these gases are or will eventually be banned in Europe because of their impact on the environment. I've seen newer datacenters use water mist sprays.
Nitrogen makes up 78% of the atmosphere, so I doubt it will be banned. Most datacenters don't actually use halocarbons despite the common "FM200" name.
You might be thinking of Halons, which are CFCs that depletes the ozone layer? They are mostly phased out worldwide but existing installations might still be in use.
FM200 is something else that is often used in modern builds (not just datacenters).
I've heard that one. I thought it mostly affects refrigerants, but I didn't notice that FM200 is also an HFC. There are other fire suppression gasses with a low global warming potential, which probably can still be used in the future.
How... what. What if the fire is electrical? You can't just go "well the triple interlocked electrical isolation will trip and cut the current" if a random fully-charged UPS decides to get angry...
